Give my 12a housings to Dave and move on to the next big thing the Toyota Lexcen

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gypsy

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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 7:02 pm

JNC Enthusiast

Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:09 pmPosts: 627Location: Australia

rx3 pro am its sort of hard to answer your question without knowing the variations that Mazda sold in the US.

Rx3 coupe and sedan seats have identical print on this side of the world. There may be differences to the rear of the seats. Im not sure if sedans had the rear pocket. The main difference is that coupes have a mechanical mechanism so the rear passengers can step on a foot pedal to tilt and slide the seats forward so they can get out.

If you already have a set of seats, go an see a reputable motor trimmer. They'll be able to match the vinyl grain and give you back a new looking set of seats. You should be able to reuse the headrest patterns.

If you have no seats, in Oz, Rx3 coupe and 808 coupe seats are identical from what Ive seen.

My advise is just keep looking, Ive managed to stay away from all the repro interior stuff. None of it is an exact match, and there's no comparison to genuine interior parts for a factory look. You'd really be surprised that literally anything can be repaired. When I get more time to sort through my photos, I'll post up before and after shots of my once badly damaged consoles. I'll also be having the front door trims repaired soon, they have nicks in the vinyl, one has a missing chunk, and both have unwanted speaker holes. Just need a day off work to drop them off.

Its been a while since I touched this thread, I think some of you are probably wondering what's going on with it all. Well to be honest I've just been flat out with other things in my life. Extremely busy at work, working long days, nights and weekends, and trying to keep the other half happy as well manage to attend family functions. If only I was 18/19 again, life was so simple, no point in whinging those days are long looooooooooong gone !

Regardless of whether I post or not there is always something going on with this Mazda, as long as Im chipping away at it Im happy. There has been a reasonable amount of progress, however all Im going to share today is the boot lid. I picked up the boot lid about 6 months ago because the one that came with the car was going to be a huge job to repair. This lid came from the same car as my front seats, some of the wheels and a few other bits and pieces. Im not one these days to go chasing parts if something can be fixed, I dont believe in chasing NOS parts when parts are perfect candidates for repairs..... The parts Ive mentioned above are all stored in Sydney so the decision was made to let RestoreMaz have a go at this one so I could get on with other stuff. Full credit to Dave, he's really done a great job, and went the extra mile to ensure everything will be perfect come paint time.

First 3 pics is what I started with, unfortunately there was separation at one end of the skin and frame due to being stored upside down under the previous owners house. Aside from this area the lid was in its original factory paint. Pic 4 is after I got it back from my sandblaster in Sydney ready to be dropped off to Dave.

Next 2 shots show the underside, the blaster will only blast the skin on one side. You can clearly see the damage.

This is where Dave started his work, he's separated the frame from the skin, sent it back to his sandblaster to clean up the inside area. This will ensure a excellent repair that wont cause me problems years down the track. Pic 2, rather than cut the area out which would likely result in a warped skin, Dave has tacked all the pin holes shut.

After the welding is done the area is ground back, treated and flooded with red oxide primer.

Top side being repaired and the underside coated with etch.

Top side sprayed with etch, he's then wet the skin with thinners to check straightness of the skin. Second shot is after the polyester went on. Last 2 photos show the underside where some of the repairs had taken place.

Here is a larger pic after Dave wet blocked the polyester, with a ripple free mirror gloss like this I could paint the panel black.

The panel is now ready for the painter to rub it back for the paint stage. Im very happy with the workmanship. At some point Im going to need to hire a van to bring all the stuff down to Vic after the car is painted.

So what else has gone one ? Im making some dies to restamp the rear quarter reflector area, Ive finished repairing the panel that sits between the boot and rear screen, the boot has almost been stripped of tar ready to be sandblasted. Still lots to do, and no real time to do any of it................

This part of the restoration is a fairly big task, lots of photos, so I dont spend all my spare time uploading photos Ive decided to break it up into 2 or 3 parts. The other reason it that its almost but not quite finished. The update is focusing on the rear part of the car where alot of these poor Mazda's typically rust

First 2 shots are of the back window channel, looks like a good panel to me. Ive had the car for close to 2 years and no sign of rust in this area. All chrome clip lugs are intact and no holes but Im not convinced !

Under the etch we find a little filler and some old repairs. Still doesnt look so bad, most would leave it alone.

Hmm its got a fair bit of filler that I could live with but doesnt look so good from inside the boot. Once this car gets painted I dont want to paint it again. I started to unpick the panel but was doing more damage to the car than good, so I made the decision to cut it off then remove what remained. You can see some pros handy MIG work, keep spooling the wire in until its one big blob of metal then grind it back That repair was at least 1cm thick !

Unpicking the remains, this will also give me a chance to fix the broken spring hook.

Just because you see no rust doesnt mean there is no rust. This shot was taken from clean looking metal where there was no previous repair. If your car gets wet expect to find rust in lap joints. Shot 2 another big blob repair that I have to fix.

A close up the the bottom channel corners, the right quarter is 100% and needs nothing, the left side needs to be cleaned up and repaired. For people with a keen eye you'll notice that the big blob repair is a different shape to the right side. I discovered this when the new panel wouldnt fit.

Cut out the blobs of MIG wire, metal epoxy, bog, metal sheet. I'll give the area a blasting and butt weld in some replacement sheet. Ahh cant wait to make a huge mess with the shot gun Perfect fit on the right side.

You cant see it but the left side doesnt fit flush. I need to remove the blob and weld in a proper piece of metal shaped to the correct shape ! Shot 2 is part of what I cut out. I doubt it would have ever rusted right through but it was just a big mess.

Here are a couple more photos of the underside of the panel that was removed from the car, aside from the big chunks that I cut out above it has been poorly repaired in the past. I was looking at making up the panel from a flat sheet of steel, but luck came my way and I found a replacement purely by luck in Europe while sourcing other parts. You couldnt wipe the smile off my face the day it arrived at my doorstep.

Here is the new panel that I'll be fitting. Has a little rust and a couple of holes but nothing that I cant repair. The ends have also been cut off which I'll have to repair. Pic 2 is the underside after I unpicked all the spot welds.

Ive sandblasted the panel, getting it ready for some minor repairs. Yes that is bare steel. I very rarely blast at home, you need a very good respirator, sealed googles and a good set of gloves. It makes a huge mess even though I recover 90% of the grit. Yes I need to weld on a small part around the curved part of the panel... beggars cant be choosers... where am I going to get another decent coupe panel from ? Not Mazda at least !

Getting ready to fix the rusted corner. The panel has a little rust here and a minor hole else where. Aside from that it is very good.

The metal was too pitted to be repaired, it would have evaporated as soon as it reached welding temp so was cut off.... Pic 2 making the replacement corner

Getting ready for welding... and pic 2 welded in.Upper has been trimmed after welding.... still needs a little cleaning before being attached to the car. If I welded from the inside there'd be virtually no cleanup. Anyway Im still happy !

Here is the opposite side so you can compare, notice the factory cut the corners off so flange sits nice in the window channel corner. Reverse side will be sandblasted and then sealed. This time I'll get a mate to do it in his cabinet.

Here are the final repairs to end of panel, I unpicked the spot welds off the original and welded them on the replacement. As previously mentioned the ends were cut off when they were removed from the car. Pic 2 and 3 is the underside after cleaning up the welds, now looks good. Pic 4 test fitting the panel, from here the rest of the panel will be sand blasted then sealed. Photos in a future update.

With the panel that sits between the boot and rear windscreen now complete, I'll start on the rear parcel shelf and left windscreen corner so that I get a good panel fit. Pic 1, making the templates so that the metal can be marked out for welding. Pic 2 preparing for the second part of the repair.

Pic 1, Ive completed welding in the replacement sections, welds still need to be cleaned up a little, repair turned out pretty good. Pic 2 Ive trimmed down the metal, given the welds a quick clean, then spayed a coat of etch primer. I would have liked to clean up the area a little more but ran out of light.

Thats all for now, lots more photos to come. The boot should also be sandblasted shortly to remove the horrible bitumen based sealer applied by a previous owner as will the parcel shelf. Hope you enjoy the update

Dave there'll be more updates soon, just need to sort through photos so they make sense. With a bit of luck the boot will be done this weekend, the car may be with me sooner than expected if things turn out over the weekend.

I cant remember if the boot lid you did for us is coated with Hi Fill ready for painting or if the top coat is polyester ?

I really want all body work to be done by the end of the year, with a bit of luck maybe even painted

I thought I'd give the people who are following this thread a little update. I've finally made the time to start work on the beast again, 3 times in one week to be exact... a record in my book. I hope to give it alot more attention with my goal being paint by the end of the year.

After not really doing much to the car for a couple of months, I thought I'd continue where I previously left off, the rear end. There are 2 main things that turn me off old cars, the first is when people spray engine bays matt black.. the second is when people paint bitumen sealer everywhere, it looks messy and does nothing except gets sticky and marks everything in the hot summers. Well, I got the later, a boot full of bitumen sealer... I guestimate there was a good 10 litres of the horrible stuff sloshed around the boot of the car to hide a colour change.

I thought I'd start removing the bitumen with paint stripper, very messy and was going to take forever. A heat gun was much better and cleaner which was used to soften the sealer then scraped the stuff off. The sealer was atleast 3mm thick which meant that sandblasting wasnt going to work. The stuff is everywhere in the boot, talk about a tedious job.

After most of the bitumen was scraped off I started to sandblast the boot. The metal was surprisingly very good with only a few minor repairs to be done due to rust pitting. I borrowed an air fed respirator for the job. The boot was mostly sealed to contain the garnet (crushed rock).

Slowly getting there, a combination of paint stripper and sandblasting is used. There are some pretty awkward spots, however I determined to remove it all !!

A little more to do, a huge improvement. It'll probably take me a couple more days of stripping and blasting before I am where I want to be. I'll then start on the boot repairs, finish off the back of the parcel shelf and then fit the rear boot/windscreen panel that was shown in the previous update. Once repaired it'll be sealed forever. Stripping the boot of the sealer is a huge job

Thought I'd through in a current overall picture of the car. The right quarter has been hand finished after alot of effort. I'll post up the photos of this after I repair someone elses half arsed panel repair that sits behind the rear wheel.

It only occured to me the other day that I should have picked a better over all car for a restoration.. this one was more suited to be turned into a JDM racer. Anyway too late now, Ive committed to finishing her off !

What an amazing thread this is. Your dedication to not just getting the car road-worthy, but doing it right is inspirational. It sounds like I'm trying to blow smoke up your ass, but seriously, this is amazing.

Dont remember reading it in the thread but what colour are you going? Im guessing its going to be the pale-yellow or white?

Thanks for all the compliments, there is really alot more work than what I bargained for however the build is mostly enjoyable. I havent come across anything that has frustrated me yet ! All this is good practice for the Rx4 coupe that a friend has stored away for the past 15 years. The plan is to take it off his hands once the Rx3 is completed.

I hope to pick up more sandblasting garnet tomorrow to finish off the boot so that a few repairs can come together. Im keen to start some welding again.

To answer your colour question, yes I had seriously considered the pale yellow (flair yellow) however I think it would be nice to bring the car back to its former glory all those years ago. The car will be painted the original Aurora White colour that it left Japan with in 1973. The theme for this car is to have it in factory condition with the optional Factory Mazda Speed goodies such as an LSD, 5 Speed gearbox behind a factory style ported 10a Rotary. Keeping it nice and simple. Aside from that it'll be 100% factory in appearance right down to the steel rims and body stripes

Bah!! Sick of working in the boot but Im starting to get some momentum going which is a good thing. Repairing the boot has been back breaking work. After blasting the tire well, it wasnt in as good condition as I 1st thought... Alot more pitting than I would have liked.

I started at the rear of the tire well using an oxy to start welding up pin holes. I generally feel I have better heat control over a MIG when welding tissue paper thin metal.

Using a hammer and dolly on a jack to hammer the oxy welds down and retain the shape of the tire well.

This section was to far gone. There wasnt enough metal to repair to my satisfaction. I gave it a go and was really trying to avoid patching the area. Basically I couldnt be stuffed doing it. In the end making the patch only took about 20 minutes. I spent alot more time than that trying to weld up tissue paper metal... the short cut always ends up being the long cut I contemplated replacing the entire well, after getting under the car I noticed that the rear subframe intertwines with the well making replacement a bit of a headache and time consuming. I decided if the patch didnt work then I'd look at replacing the entire tire well.

Here Ive marked and cutout the area and marked out the patch on fresh steel.

Forming the swage in the patch area. I didnt have an exact size metal rod. It all comes down to how much time you want to spend on certain areas. I couldnt justify anymore time in the area considering a tire will be sitting on top the patch !

Tack welding in place with a MIG. What a BIG difference welding on clean steel makes ! UHHH should have gone this way hours earlier. Pic 2 everything is welded up, getting ready to blast the welds clean, treat with deoxine, clean up the deoxine with thinner and and a rough paint scouring pad. On top of that Ive cleaned up and treated and sealed the underside of the wheel well. Once I finish the panel work I'll mount the car on a rotisserie to finish off the underside of the wheel well as well as other minor underside work.

Prepared and sealed with a coat of epoxy primer. It didnt turn out too bad considering someone else has had a go a repairing parts of the wheel well. Rather than redo everything Ive cleaned up some areas and redid others. It is what it is guys... a 35 yr old car that was pulled out of a paddock. If I want it 100% perfect I would have had to change the tire well for a better unit. It'll need some very minor filler work but overall Im happy.

Im undecided whether Im going to stone guard the underside of the wheel well or paint it. Stone guard would be a better option as it wont chip. Im not sure if 10a Rx3s had stone guard or where painted in this area. Looking at mine it has a factory rough finish but I know 12a cars where painted. I'll decide later.

Ive already started finishing off the boot floor, there are a couple of pin holes on the left side but thats about it. Should go smoothly....

Started to strip out the thick bitumen from the back. No rust so Im happy so far although its uncomfortable work....

Ben I suppose its not bad, probably as good as any panel shop would have done, probably better... Im just pedantic ! Hopefully it wont annoy me to much to the point where I strip the car bare and start again

Working on an old Mazda is never alot work, maybe if it was a Datsun it would be a alot of work and a basket case

A few more shots of other rear end work that is on the go. Everything from the rear wheels back is being attended to to get a decent repair. All these bits tie together somehow. Once its all done bodywork will be 60% + complete. By that time the weather will be warmer so I can start applying some primer.

Someone elses sh!thouse work. I dont get it, they go to the trouble of having a patch made up and then leave all the rust and more behind.
First 2 pics.. lap joints = rust. The patch had to go. Pic 2, they put to much heat into the panel when welding hardening the steel. The lower section is impossible to work the shape right.

Bird poop welds and a poorly finished edge.

Lets cut the sucker off... why do people bother patching and leave bare metal and rust behind ??? The lower inner panel will be cut and partially replaced, sandblasted and sealed. If you look hard enough there is a patch as well, you probably cant see it because its rusty as well !!

I'll cut more than this out once the patch is prepared. Lap joint around the wheel arch... sorry had to go as well.

Inner arch lip will either be repaired of replaced.... undecided at this point. An absolute hack job, as already said, why bother with the patch to start with. Pic 2, you can see how much Im looking at cutting out for the final repair. This will fix several things...the rear bever to quarter panel lines, int reflector recess, removal of hardened steel, proper repair of wheel arch. I have a spare complete coupe quarter panel if things go pair shaped. Im using a good panel off a sedan for the repair. Looking forward to having lots of fun.

A close up of the inner panel, the previous repairer ran a grinder over the panel to remove some surface rust. Not sure what he expected would happen if it wasnt primed !

Yes very similar to that except I dont think I'll be using bonnet flutes, hard to justify $400 for 2 bits of plastic

Ive done a bit more, blasted the parcel shelf and primed it, also blasted and started repairing the bottom left corner of rear windscreen. Ive cutout the bad repair, blasted the area and currently preparing the patch which should be ready for welding soon. The patch is off the sedan quarter panel that im using for other repairs. There wont be much left of it once I finish with it !

Here are some of the pics of the consoles that I had restored a while ago. Most of the consoles were broken. Ive left them in HiRes so you can inspect them in detail. It was alot cheaper than trying to find other good Rx3 consoles. Im more than happy with the quality, they are as good as new now. I'll see if I have more before shots stored somewhere.

Before shots.

The problems with my consoles were missing corners (snapped off), torn/ broken plastics, Cigarette burns and all plastics were faded to varing degrees. (the pics are quite large otherwise you cant see any clarity around repairs)

After getting side tracked we go back to fitting the replacement panel.... removing a bog job, Im sure there are lots of Rx3 that get this treatment around windscreen sills.

Trial fitting the stainless trim against the patch to ensure a 100% fit. No point welding then finding the fit isnt right. Ive cut it out, welded up some pin holes and blasted it clean. Pic 2 comparing fit with right side (untouched from factory)

Knocked out the bog and preparing for the patch which will be cut down.

The remnants of the crap repair.... Getting ready to blast the parcel shelf clean. The only way to rid an area of rust is to blast back to white metal. No other method even comes close. This really reduces any chance of rust returning.

The back side getting blasted, all previous non mazda paint removed, the seam top is cleaned back to white metal... and the factory paint is etched thin by the garnet getting ready for the epoxy... pic 2 sealed forever.

As already mentioned the patch is off a sedan and will be modified to fit the coupe. Should save me a little time rather than start from a flat piece of steel. First step is to hammer out the step, coupes dont have a step where the windscreen/ boot panel fits to the quarters. The shape is now pretty good, except where the boot/window panel meets the quarter. If you look just to the right of the plug weld clamp leg you'll see a gap. That gap needs to be removed by slicing the patch on the inside of what makes up part of the windscreen seat and moved up a fraction then welded. You could bog it but it will lead to paint failure. As a general rule, bog is OK as long as the back side is 100% sealed otherwise it will absorb moisture and lift.

A photo of the patch which has been slightly reshaped to fit, trimmed and trial fitted. Last step will be to slice it to fix the gap pictured previously. It fits very well and will be an excellent repair. A huge difference to how the previous guys fixed it.

Similar problem at the top left of the rear windscreen seat, poorly repaired with bog. This would have no doubt bubbled as well if left like this. Ive punched out most of it. The previous guys left the little corner bump in tack that supports the stainless trim corner which makes it as easy repair. The corner will be sandblasted, treated, cutout like the previous patch and then welded up. The patch will be made from sheet folded over 90 deg and then run through a shrinker/ stretcher to a nice clean curve. It wont take more than 10 minutes to make up.

And this is whats coming up. I have a very small amount left to repair on the roof then the roof, C pilars and rear windscreen/ boot panel will be epoxied. Long time coming. The boot floor is just about done as well, probably needs an hour or two to finish off.

Getting back to the patch work..

Slicing the corner of the patch so that it can be moved up to close the gap between the windscreen corner and the panel that sits between the rear windscreen/ boot lid. Pic 2 welded up but not quite there yet !

Here the patch is sandblasted clean ready for some epoxy. These things typically rust because the factory didnt seal the underside. Combine that with moisture and you get rust ! Clamped in place with my new panel clamps. Holes are drilled for the plug welding that will take place. A black liner is used the mark the welded area on the underside seam that will be cleaned up for welding.

The underside seam is cleaned up, sandblasted, epoxied. Ive used a spot weld drill bit to clean the area where the plug welding arc will strike from the MIG. After refitting the patch and the chrome trim I noticed I wasnt 100% happy with the fit of the stainless windscreen trim. Marked for more trimming. I would have gone back and forth 10 - 15 times before I was finally satisfied. So much for a quick job ! The slicing of the patch wasnt enough. The area had to move in 2 dimensions. to be right. Rather than slice it again, I decided to weld along the edge to get the line I wanted. Worked out well !

Finally there fitment wise You can see where I've welded along the edge to get the gap right. Im committed now, tacked and welding has begun... no going back from here....

Another shot, not the best photo but turning out really well. Its not finished yet but Im very happy with how its turning out. Even the underside looks good ! The trim now fits 110% as it should. Once Ive completed welding I'll use a flap disk to clean it all up. I have access to the rear side which will be treated again, sealed, then waxed to permanently keep moisture out.

Next update I would have finished welding the patch including the plug welds and general cleanup. I'd expect that I should have time to fit the panel that fits between the boot and rear windscreen as well.

Nothing with my restoration unfortunately moves fast, including updates to this thread These old cars need alot of work when restoring, if you dont want to know whats under the paint of your car its best not to look unless your fully committed to finishing the job no matter what. I have nothing to do with the auto industry so its all a big learning curve for me. It'll get there one day !